Jean-Marie Vianney

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Jean-Marie Vianney, sculpture by Émilien Cabuchet (1867)

Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney , German: Johann Baptist (born May 8, 1786 in Dardilly , Lyonnais ; † August 4, 1859 in Ars-sur-Formans , Département Ain ), called the pastor of Ars , was a Catholic priest . He was founded by Pope Pius XI. canonized on May 31, 1925 .

Life

Kitchen of the rectory in Ars

Vianney was born as the fourth child of the farmer Matthieu Vianney and his wife Marie Beluse. His mother raised him religiously. He first worked on his father's farm. Since he wanted to become a priest, he attended the parish school of Pastor Balley in Écully near Lyon from 1805 , where he made only modest progress.

In 1809 he was called up for military service. An illness prevented him from entering the country. After his recovery he was supposed to follow the troops, but was persuaded to desert to Les Noës near Roanne . There he lived under the name "Jérome Vincent" and from 1810 worked as a village school teacher. An amnesty for deserters enabled him to continue his studies in 1811 and attend the seminar in Verrières-en-Forez near Montbrison and, from October 1813, the seminar in Lyon. Although he great difficulty in learning the Latin language , he had been through the efforts of Pastor Balleys and for his piety on 13 August 1815 in Grenoble for ordained priests .

He was initially a chaplain to Pastor Balley in Écully and on February 9, 1818 he got his own parish in Ars-sur-Formans near Lyon, a religiously disinterested community that had 240 inhabitants at the time. Vianney now tried to build a lively church, lived in personal poverty, prayed a lot and led a strict penitential life with fasting and self-flagellation . He began to renovate the desolate local church, founded a Rosary Brotherhood in 1818 , later a Eucharistic Brotherhood, in 1824 a girls 'school, in 1827 a house for half and full orphans ( La Providence ) and in 1832 a boys' school.

Statue in Ostend

Vianney "represented the doors of the taverns as gates to hell" and arranged for them to be closed in Ars. Vianney also spoke out "against the sin of dances", which were "for him the prelude to every kind of carnal temptation", and refused parishioners the absolution unless they gave up dancing. "In the absence of distractions, parishioners went to mass every day and confessed frequently," and Vianney became a sought-after confessor who intuitively grasped the problems of the confessor. From around 1826 Ars became a place of pilgrimage because people wanted to hear his sermons and confess to him. It is reported that he sat in the confessional fourteen to eighteen hours a day. His service in the confessional often began at 1 a.m. In the last year of his life alone, around 100,000 people are said to have attended the church in Ars. He attributed numerous healings and miracles to St. Philomena , whom he venerated and called his “shop assistant to God”. Cases of clairvoyance are reported by Jean-Marie Vianney.

At times he was tormented by doubts about his vocation as pastor. In view of the extreme workload, he tried several times to flee Ars to enter a monastery, but was brought back by the local residents. After hostility and defamation, he was made a Dome of Honor in 1850 and a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1855 . He was embarrassed about these awards. While others worshiped him and already saw him as a saint, the pastor of Ars himself was very afraid of having to appear as a priest before the judgment of God. He would have loved to weep "the misery of his existence" in the monastery. At his request, God let him see the whole misery of his existence once. That was terrible and luckily he was largely able to forget it again. Only an extreme humility remained.

He died of overexertion on August 4, 1859, at the age of 73.

After death

The body of Jean Marie Vianney in the Basilica of St-Sixte d'Ars

After his death, he was buried on August 14, 1859 in a crypt in the church of Ars. 90,000 pilgrims flocked to the community. The beatification process was initiated as early as 1862. On June 17, 1904, his body was exhumed . It was still in good condition and could be prepared. It lies in a bronze shrine in the basilica of Ars . By Pope Pius X. the beatification took place on January 8, 1905 and Pius XI. canonized him on May 31, 1925. Jean Marie Vianney is considered the patron saint of pastors.

In memory of Jean Marie Vianney, the Bishop of Belley-Ars , Guy Bagnard, founded by decree on April 18, 1990 the “Societé Jean Marie Vianney”, a community of priests which was approved in 2008 by the Pontifical Congregation for the Clergy . The aim of the priestly community, to which 10 German priests belong (as of August 2008), is to strengthen the apostolic spirit of its members through inner prayer, retreats and exchange with other members.

His life in France influenced the writers Léon Bloy and Georges Bernanos ( The Sun of Satan , Diary of a Country Pastor ) and the film director Robert Bresson .

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of the pastor of Ars, Pope Benedict XVI. proclaimed a priest year . It began on June 19, 2009 - on the eve of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - and ended on June 19, 2010 with a large meeting of priests in St. Peter's Square.

Remembrance day

His feast day is August 4th in the Catholic and Protestant churches.

iconography

He is usually depicted as a gaunt priest with a Rochett and a stole .

Patronage

Works

  • Markus Aregger (Ed.): “My dear listeners!” The sermons of the holy pastor of Ars . Theresia-Verlag, Lauerz 1997, ISBN 3-908542-75-8 .
  • Paulus Deusdedit (Ed.): They came out of the fire . Volume 2: 190 experiences with poor souls. Sermons for the Soul of the Poor (Pastor of Ars) a. a . Theresia-Verlag, Lauerz 2002, ISBN 3-908542-89-8 .

literature

  • Georges Bernanos (novel in which the main character was inspired by Vianney): Journal d'un curé de campagne . Paris 1936. Dt. Translation by Jakob Hegner: Diary of a country pastor . Einsiedeln 3rd edition 2010, ISBN 978-3-89411-400-8 .
  • Werner Bucher : Unrest . Novel. Appenzeller Verlag, Herisau 1998, ISBN 3-85882-209-4 .
  • Louis Christiani: The holy pastor of Ars. Johannes Maria Vianney as he really was . 10th edition Johannes-Verlag, Leutesdorf am Rhein 1991, ISBN 3-7794-0608-X .
  • Wilhelm Hünermann: The pastor of Ars. Johannes Vianney . 13th edition Tyrolia, Innsbruck-Wien 2004, ISBN 3-7022-1594-8 .
  • Pope John XXIII: circular on the outcome of the first century celebration of the pious death of St. John the Baptist Maria Vianney . Munster 1959.
  • Walter Nigg: The pastor of Ars . Herder, Freiburg i. B. et al. 1992, ISBN 3-451-22532-8 .
  • André Ravier: The pastor of Ars . Herder, Freiburg i. B. et al. 1982, ISBN 3-451-19275-6 .
  • Gérard Rossé: The parish priest of Ars . Neue Stadt, Munich 2009 ISBN 978-3-87996-793-3 .
  • Francis Trochu: The pastor of Ars. Johannes-Maria-Baptist Vianney 1786-1859 . Christiana, Stein am Rhein 2001, ISBN 3-7171-1088-8 .
  • Klaus-Gunther Wesseling:  Jean-Marie Vianney. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 12, Bautz, Herzberg 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 1325-1328.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Movie

  • Maurice Pialat : The Sun of Satan , France 1987.
  • Marius Langer: The pastor of Ars. The holy simplicity of Jean-Marie Vianney. D, tv documentation (BR) 2001, 45 min.

swell

  1. ↑ a b c d Cornwell, John: The confession . Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2014. ISBN 978-3-8270-1155-8 , p. 110.
  2. ^ Butler, Alban: Butler's Lives of the Saints . HarperCollins Publ., New York 1991. ISBN 0-86012-189-5 , pages 237-8.
  3. ↑ Cornwell, John: The Confession . Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2014. ISBN 978-3-8270-1155-8 , p. 111.
  4. ^ Website of the Société Jean-Marie Vianney
  5. ↑ Pope Benedict calls out 'Priest Year' , article in the private online magazine kath.net
  6. ^ Jean Baptiste-Marie Vianney in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints

Web links

Commons : Jean-Marie Vianney  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Vianney, Jean-Marie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vianney, Johannes Maria; Pastor of Ars; Vianney, Jean-Baptist Marie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Catholic priest, saint and patron saint
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Dardilly
DATE OF DEATH 4th August 1859
Place of death Ars-sur-Formans , Ain department